The Alabama volleyball team didn’t start out looking like a team that had won four of its last five matches. It didn’t start out looking like the team that handed Georgia its first home loss, either.
Nevertheless, the Crimson Tide beat UAB in straight sets to secure its 19th win of the season.
Alabama barely scraped by in the first set with a 25-23 win over UAB. It hit only .222 to UAB’s .238. The next two sets were a bit easier but not much. The Crimson Tide took the second and third sets 25-17 and 25-22, respectively. It was a slow start and finish to the match, said coach Ed Allen.
“First of all, ball control was awful tonight, could’ve been a lot better,” Allen said. “[We] passed at 1.9 tonight. That didn’t give us nearly the opportunities that we would’ve liked to have had for our outside hitters. I think for the most part [we] played with some composure when things were less than ideal, and it was less than ideal. It’s nice to win ugly and be able to do that in three, and so for that part of things, we were pretty pleased with [it].”
After putting up 10 blocks on Mississippi State, the Crimson Tide put up only two against UAB. The Blazers had no trouble putting up seven blocks on Alabama.
“I guess that’s something we’re just going to have to definitely work on at practice,” setter Sierra Wilson said. “We just weren’t reading as well as we had been, but we picked it up with our defense, so it’s good that we can work as a team that way.”
Defensively, the Crimson Tide had 48 digs on the match compared to UAB’s 37. But offensively, Alabama had 50 kills. Krystal Rivers led the way with 12 kills, followed closely by Brittany Thomas and Mattie Weldy with 11 and nine, respectively.
Rivers, a Birmingham native, said she enjoyed playing in front of her friends and family but that the team could’ve played better.
“We talked about, especially after the first set, just staying composed, just going out, executing, because if we executed, we probably would’ve come away with a [bigger] win,” Rivers said. “Sierra [Wilson] delivered me great balls, so I was able to get the kills, and just staying disciplined just helped us get us through this match.”
Thomas and Weldy combined for eight hitting errors on the night, but both finished the night hitting at .200 or above.
“[Weldy] was hitting negative after the first two sets, and I think finished the match hitting .200, so she obviously elevated that third set tremendously,” Allen said. “I think both her and Brittany [Thomas] have to understand … we have to do more than just pull a ball down. We’ve got to challenge the block in a productive way, which means it’s high hands; it’s wipe the block; it’s find a seam; it’s do something [other] than be a coach on a box.”
With this victory, Alabama (19-6, 6-4 SEC) is one win away from its seventh 20-win season since 1989.
